Tom Brady revealed that the New England Patriots held several team meetings last fall to discuss protests over the national anthem.
“We had meetings after practice, talking about you know how we wanted to deal with that particular situation at the time, whether it was taking a knee,” the 40-year-old NFL star told Oprah Winfrey in a clip posted Thursday on YouTube for “SuperSoul Sunday.”
WATCH:
“I think there were a lot of really good, healthy conversations coming out of it in our locker room, you know,” the winning quarterback added. “Like I said, the great part about sports are the relationships. I’ve been in it for a long time. I’ve been with guys from all different parts of the country, every color, race, belief.”
“We chose to lock arms and we put arms around each other,” he continued. “I’ve been playing sports long enough. Everyone comes from something different. And I think showing respect for everybody in a locker room is–you know a team full of guys trying to go the same direction — you better have that empathy for everybody. That’s what sports are about.”
At the start of the game on September 24, a few Patriots took a knee during the national anthem, with Brady and the rest of the team standing together locked arm-in-arm during the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner.”